Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) has suffered a broken arm and leg after being hit by a car while out on a training ride near Cosenza in southern Italy.
Local news website Qui Cosenza reported that the 36-year-old was riding through the hamlet of Laurignano when he was hit by a Fiat Grande Punto at a crossroads. After being stabilised on the scene by paramedics, Pozzovivo was taken to a hospital in Cosenza.
Pozzovivo remained conscious throughout, and is in a stable condition in intensive care awaiting surgery to multiple bone fractures, according to a statement released by his Bahrain-Merida team.
The Italian was preparing for the upcoming Vuelta a España, where he was expected to be the Bahrain-Merida GC leader. Earlier this month, he took 12th overall at the Tour de Pologne, and back in May helped Vincenzo Nibali to second overall at the Giro d'Italia.
In August 2014, Pozzovivo sustained a fractured tibia and fibula in a training crash near the Stelvio. Those injuries forced him out of the 2014 Vuelta, though he returned in time to ride Milan-Turin and Il Lombardia before the end of the season.